Count On Me
by theneurocap
Summary: college life is anything but "normal." You think love triangles are bad? well, what about a 'love polygon' A really, really bad one? and then throw in a game show? yeah..m.a.d.n.e.s.s. and d.i.s.a.s.t.e.r. extremely OOC. non-canon couples.
1. Chapter 1

**Count On Me**

**Prologue**

There are certain moments in your life that leave you no choice but wonder if only you could undone whatever wrong you did. You can't force the thoughts of-what could have happened had you chosen this or that-away from your mind. The heavy weight of guilt and remorse seem to settle on your shoulders leaving you to struggle with the knowledge of your wrongs.  
>Something less or more same happened to her that turned her life upside down.<p>

The gentle breeze waved through the balcony curtains, making its way to the lonely girl sitting on the recliner with her knees hugged close to her chest. She was staring at the blue sky, a faraway look in her eyes and a torrent of emotions visible on her pretty face.  
>She drew in a deep breath as the breeze caressed her face, the contact reminding her of gentle strokes of those hands, those fingers on her cheeks...how they would ghost over her skin, leaving behind a tingling trail in their wake.<p>

Lost in the memories, she didn't even notice the tears that were flowing down her face. A sob escaped her throat as she thought about the cruel things she did, though unknowingly, the unbearable pain she caused to the person she was everything to.

Each memory made her sob more and each sob hit her conscience with a pang of remorse.  
>'I'm worth it.' She whispered, feeling the clawing of pain in her heart.<p>

Unable to sit anymore, she collapsed on the cold floor and reached out for the crumpled photograph lying there.

'Why?' She asked, having no idea who she was expecting the answer from, herself or the photograph?

The Photograph. She stared at it longingly, with a good dose of remorse in her eyes. There, two persons sat huddled together on a boulder beneath a tree, a brook flowing nearby completing the serene view.

'Why?' A few drops of tears fell down on the photo as she squinted her eyes shut in agony, unable to let the cloud of love surrounding the huddled figures intensify her pain.  
>The tiny teardrops shined like a pearl upon the ocean upon catching the orange-ish light of the setting sun, the sight immediately made her grimace a smile.<p>

With tear filled eyes, she continued to take in 'the clasped hands, the arm draped around the shoulder, the lips curled upwards in a heart-warming smile, the chin resting on the head and the two pair of eyed that reflected nothing but pure love and contentment.'

The more she looked at it, the truck of remorse hit her more fiercely, again and again, eventually pushing her into the safe arms of unconsciousness, providing her an escape from her pain and from the last thought that slipped through her lips...  
>"Why did I ruin everything?"<p>

**A/N- So, this is my first story ever and I'm not an experienced writer. Be kind and honestly tell me what do you think? Like it, dislike it? Worth continuing? Should I stop? If you are here reading it, please review. I'd like to hear your opinion.**

**PS- English isn't my first language. So, if there are any grammatical mistakes and you wanna point out or willing to help along, feel free to PM me.**

**Take care.  
>-AJo<strong>


	2. Chapter 2: Chapter 1

**Disclaimer****- I forgot to put a disclaimer in previous chapter so SM officially sent me papers to let me know that she is the one and only owner of the subjects of our daydreams and that she'll sue me if I claim on Alice (or Bella).  
>*Sigh* okay...<br>Kleenex?  
>"Hmm.."<strong>

**A/N - Hey everyone.  
>Big thanks to those who put my story on story alert and favourites. And special thanks to ttrouble95, mumu15, BlueGreenOcean and Wildimagination28 who gave the 'Newbie Writer' some much-needed feedback. Thank you, guys.<strong>

**And I think I should shut up now and let you read. ;)**

**Alice/Bella**

"Hey, Lee! Are you ready yet?"  
>I heard my brother shouting the question from down the stairs. 'Why does he have to shout? He knows I can hear him loud and clear. But no! He <em>has<em> to shout. Typical.'

"Almost, Lec! Give me a few minutes." I shouted back, cursing mentally as the box I was holding slipped from my hands and the papers flew in every direction possible.  
>"God damn it!" I was already short of time and now this -my sketches scattered around the room like some Graffiti on school grounds- wasn't helping my nervous irritation.<br>'Ugh.' We have to reach the Airport in an hour. Err, Airport because we, I and my twin brother Alec, were leaving for college in Seattle today.

Becoming a Fashion Designer has always been my dream, and earning that degree from the Imperial College of Fashion Technology of Seattle University, the biggest one. Fashion is something I feel I belong to; my passion for it seems to deepen with each passing day, pulling me in every next moment. The day the Mail-Man dropped my Acceptance Letter in our mailbox was the key to unlock the first door of the way of opportunities. That was the best day of the 18 years' of my life. I was on cloud nine and Mom actually had to go into cut-Aly's-sugar and caffeine-intake- mode to control my giddiness.  
>Dad, being the superb Dad he is, threw a party for us to celebrate our Graduation and our acceptance in the SU. Alec got accepted too, his major Psychological Science. We invited our friends from school and neighbours and what a blast that was! We partied all night, adults drinking and teenagers dancing, and celebrating the occasion. For me and my family, what was most important was, cherishing the remaining few days of our stay in Biloxi, my birthplace.<p>

"Watcha thinkin', Alice?" Alec poked his head inside my room, his eyebrows raised high, almost escaping his forehead as he welcomed himself in.  
>"Oh wait! I know!" He exclaimed and then cleared his throat dramatically.<br>"Oh my beautiful, amazing pieces of art, my lovely sketches.." He mimicked in a very sickeningly high pitched female voice, with equally appalling face and hand gestures.  
>'Such a Joker.' My rolling of eyes couldn't deter his stupidity.<br>"These designs will make such fine carpets!" He then twirled, cupped his mouth and squeaked out a very shrill "OMIGOSH!" as he jumped up and down in a teenager-Barbie-girl fashion, completing his stupid, idiotic and so-called 'Alice-imitation' with eyelash batting, that caused my jaw to loose and hang low.

"Shut up Lecii Boy!" I glared at him.  
>"I so do not act like Disney-Barbie-prone teenage girls, as you are trying to imply!" Crossing my arms over my chest, I let out a loud huff, which, to my utter annoyance, only fuelled his amusement.<p>

"You're right Lee, you do not act. Why on earth would you need to ACT when you were...BORN this way!" He bellowed, putting his pearly whites on show.

'Honestly? Does he want to lose all his teeth?'

"Is that so, Lec?" I smirked. "As far as I know, we happened to share Mom's womb for 9 months some 18 years ago, and also, we share Mom and Dad's Genes and DNA too."  
>Now it was my turn to snicker as my smart-ass comment made him zip up his mouth and turn some very pretty shades of pink.<br>'Ha! Take that, my dear twin.' I think now a goofy grin adorned my face.

"Okay, okay." He coughed. "No need to waste anymore time. Just pack and bring your stuff downstairs." He half muttered-half ordered, all the while rubbing the back of his neck.

"Right! I almost forgot the-" I glanced at the floor and then turned to face Alec with a very sweet smile on my face, which made him gulp loudly.  
>"Alec, brother help me gather the papers, won't you?" I asked sweetly, no, too sweetly, unleashing my infamous pout on him.<p>

"Ugh!"  
>'Looks like my pout is working.'<br>He sighed and shook his head as he reached to pick up the papers on the floor.

"Looking very innocent, aren't you?"

"That I am." I sang happily.

"Indeed!"

"Shut up and focus on the task at hand!"

"Sisters..."

Ten minutes later, we were in the living room, our bags packed and placed near the front door, waiting to be claimed and leave.  
>But here we were, me, Alec and Dad, sitting on the couch waiting for Mom to appear from the kitchen, who was, apparently, waiting for the ding of the microwave's bell. She was cooking us some sort of 'Good-luck dish'.<p>

'How sweet of you, Mom.'

On our Graduation Day, it seemed like Mom was fully focused on embarrassing us in front of the whole school with her-'_Babies_ growing up and graduating'- babble. When Alec was on the stage receiving his Certificate, she stood up, her eyes teary and face red, clapping and cheering for him while pointing random people's attention at us. I was next, so I looked at dad in hopes that he would understand and try to stop her actions. But he decided not to disturb his wife and waved me off, pretending to be busy taking photographs. 'Not cool, Daddy!'

Now that I look back at it, I can see she was just being 'Mom'.

From that day on, she took it upon herself to take care of us like she used to do when we were babies. Cooking us exotic dishes, arranging family outings and trying to make each of our remaining days in Mississippi count.  
>I think she wasn't even trying to love us, perhaps just following her maternal instincts that were urging her to shower her love upon her children.<p>

"You took forever, Mrs. Cullen." Dad's playful comment pulled me out of my Thinking-land just in time to see Mom emerging from the Kitchen with two bowls of some Soup-y dish in a tray.  
>"Hmm. You mean this forever equals to 10 minutes, Mr. Cullen?" She winked at Dad and then turned to hand Alec and me a bowl each.<p>

"Eat." She ordered with a smile and we dug in.  
>"You mean drink, Mom?" Alec scooped a spoon full of Soup(?) from the bowl and looked at it funnily as he poured it back in the bowl, which caused to choke on my food as I tried to not let my laughter loose. Mom immediately handed me a glass of water and then hit Lec lightly on his shoulder, but couldn't hide the smile that secretly brightened her face.<p>

"And where is my share of, err, Soup, Jean?" Dad inquired, to which Mom replied with..."What college are you leaving home for, Gerald dear?" which made him to sink back in the couch. A fake pout replaced his grin; that earned him an 'Aww', and a pinch on the cheek from a smirking Mom.  
>God, they're so childish sometimes!<br>'But you love them the way they are, right?'  
>Right.<br>Now I know where my pout and Alec's playfulness came from.

After a few minutes of shared laughs, dad took some photographs of us so that he could, quote, 'Adorn the walls with sweet memories'.  
>We stuffed our luggage into the trunk of Dad's car and hopped in. He started the car and zoomed out of our driveway. Mom and dad actually took the day off from their work just to see us off.<br>I feel so lucky 'cause I got the sweetest family in the world.  
>'Speaking of family, you forgot <em>it, <em>you moron!'

"Dad, stop!" My sudden shout made him slam on the brakes and the car screeched to a halt. Mom and Dad both turned to look at me worriedly. "What's wrong, Alice?"

"Give me the keys, Mom. I forgot something important back in the house." She looked at me warily but tossed the keys at me a moment later and I jumped out.  
>I sprinted a good 8 to 10 meters back to the house, unlocked the door hastily and made a beeline for my room upstairs.<br>'Where is _it?' _Study table..CD racks..bed..closet..no, nowhere. Dad honked twice from outside, urging me to hurry up. I looked around the room, frantically searching for-"THE COUCH!" 'Yes! Back to the living room..'

Phew. 'Here you are.' I grabbed _it _on my way out, locking the doors before running back to the car.

"God, Alice! Do you want us to miss our flight?" Alec complained from beside me as I tried to catch my breath.  
>"Show me what you retrieved?" And I placed the<em> framed piece <em>on his lap. He looked down only to find mom, Dad, himself and me smiling back at him with our house in background in the Photograph. A fond smile tugged on his lips as he looked at me and nodded.

In the rear-view mirror, I could see our house, the monument of times of our lives together as a happy family. I stuck my head out of the window and waved at the slowly disappearing shape, silently bidding it goodbye.

20 minutes of diving and soft conversations later, we pulled into the Airport's parking lot. Mom and dad decided to stay with us for a few more minutes.  
>Dad fished out two rectangular gift-boxes from his Coat's pockets for both of us.<p>

"What is it, Dad?" Alec asked curiously as she shook the box near his ear, apparently trying to 'hear' the gift.

"A little gift for you, Son." Dad's honey-brown eyes shone brightly as he smiled at him.

"Also for you." He looked at me. "And Alice, open it only when you reach Seattle" He added the last sentence as an after-thought, making me to duck my head and smile sheepishly.  
>'He knows my eagerness just too well.'<p>

The announcer announced for the security check and suddenly I found myself wrapped in Mom's 'Mama-Bear hug.'  
>"I love you Sweetie" She smothered me with her love as she squeezed me tight, effectively disrupting my oxygen intake for a moment.<p>

"I love you too, Mom." I smiled. I could hear her muffled sniffs.  
>'She is soooo emotional.'<br>"Err, Mom? Think you can loose your grip a bit...I need oxygen in my lungs." I joked and she pulled away chuckling, while dabbing the tissue paper on her eyes.

"Love you, Dad" He returned my hug gently, and the corners of my lips curled upwards in a fond smile.

"Take care, Baby Girl." And there goes my smile..

He laughed as I huffed. "I'm not a 'Baby Girl' anymore, Dad! I'm a grown-up, mature and responsible Teenager who is actually going to attend college in another state!"  
>'Yeah, that's a strong point. Pats on the back, Alice.'<p>

"That's the key word, _Teenager_. Alice, you are and you'll always be my Baby Girl as long as I live." The determined look in his honey-brown eyes told me he is right and that there is no point in arguing with him about that. So I backed off and nodded at him with a smile of my own.

After they hugged Alec goodbye, they left with a promise of calling them often from us.

We grabbed our luggage and boarded the plane shortly after the security check. An Airhostess welcomed us and ushered us to our seats, flashing flirty smiles at Alec as she lingered by our seats longer than necessary. Alec, being Alec, flirted back, dazzling the poor Airhostess with his Cullen Charm. As she prepared to leave to attend to other passengers, he threw a very suggestive wink at her and she immediately blushed scarlet. I couldn't help the chortle that escaped my throat at my brother's shameless activity. I punched him on the shoulder as he snickered after the flushed Airhostess' figure staggering away.  
>"Looks like the plane ride isn't gonna be extremely boring." He muttered to himself, a mischievous look on his face as his eyes shone with mirth.<br>"You aren't gonna flirt with her more, are you?" I managed to ask between chuckles. He just shrugged innocently.  
>"You'll just flirt with her non-stop and torture the poor Airhostess with your looks. This isn't right, Lec."<br>"Ruin my fun!" He huffed.  
>"You know that I know that you aren't mad at me." I stated, looking straight upwards at the plane's ceiling. He looked at me for a moment then rolled his eyes, which made me grin at him lazily.<p>

We settled in our seats after a comfortable silence surrounded us, thoroughly amused by the little event. Our sullen mood from before long forgotten. I readied myself for a nap as Alec adjusted his iPod.

"Ready for college, Sis?" Alec tilted his head towards me as he waited for my response.

"Yes." He nodded with a smile and went back to his iPod.

Even as I felt the sleep slowly approaching my eyes, I couldn't shake away this nervous, apprehensive feeling about my future. What to expect, I didn't know. I sighed deeply as sleep began to slowly overtake my senses.  
>'Seattle...'<p>

**A/N- That's the first chapter, my readers. Hope it was okay. The college is fictional, know nothing about Seattle. Next chapter- In Seattle.  
>Oh, here is a ques- Which color eyes u want Bella have, Brown or Blue? Though is important for the story, I'll go with majority.<strong>

**PS- U guys are great. I got 17 story alerts, 2 favourites BUT only 4 people cared to tell me what they think of my work. Not fair!  
>Its not about the number of reviews friends, its about the happiness that warms my heart upon seeing your response and (constructive) criticism. I don't bite, u can ask the people who PMed me. ;)<br>If u read ANY story on ff, pls give the author some response. U hav no idea how much it means to us writers.**

**Now my fingers are sore from typing, so I'm gonna sulk in my room and sleep.**

**Btw, Percy waves Hi. (Percy, my pet dog)**

**Take Care **

**-AJo.**


	3. To SU

**Disclaimer****- I saw a dream. Alice and Bella were doing -exactly-not-HOW-u-think-they were-doing- couple stuff and SM popped in out of nowhere. She threw a copy of copyright papers at me; laughed evilly as she put an arm each around A & B's shoulders & then poof...vanished!  
>What a Nightmare! <strong>

**A/N-**** Hey everyone!  
>Big thanks to everyone who read &amp; reviewed COM. U all r the reason of this big smile on my face. <strong>

**SI- thanks for your enthusiastic review. Please pm me, I need to thank u profusely.  
>*Percy sends friend request to Riley on Dogbook!* ;D<strong>

***This chapter is dedicated to SI & my sweet friend JamiDW* **

**Alice/Bella**

I don't know how long I slept during the flight to Seattle but when I woke up, one thing I knew for sure was that it wasn't a very smart decision on my part. A thin sheen of sweat coated my entire body and my heart raced frenetically as I tried to ignore the freaky feeling from the terrifying dream I just had a few seconds ago._ What the hell was it? _I couldn't remember what it was about. But it left me absolutely terrified and there was no way in hell I was going to dwell over it for even a single second.  
>The dull spasms coursing through my muscles provided me the distraction I needed. My body was stiff and sore from having been slept in same position for God knows how long. Actually, I'm one of those people who move a lot while sleeping. So despite the comfiness of the seat, my back was killing me. On top of that, this nauseating feeling in my gut was doing wonders in my brain. This wasn't a very pleasant distraction and I could feel myself getting cranky.<p>

Letting out a rather shaky breath, I stretched out my stiff limbs and proceeded to sit straight, only to feel a mild pressure around my waist pushing me backward. _Seatbelt? What the heck?_

"Slept well?" Alec's perky voice questioned from beside me. My shifting in the seat must have alerted him of me being awake. He seemed to be in a rather uncharacteristic bright mood for a flight. As clear as I can remember, he never enjoyed flights ever since he saw Final Destination and that was when we were what, 9? Yes. It was our 9th birthday. We went to the theatre with Mom and Dad as a birthday outing and he was hell bent on watching ONLY Final Destination 'cause his friends at school told him it was 'Mind-blowing!' The eejit didn't have the nerves to stay till the climax of the movie. He complained about the movie being scary and whined non-stop until Dad gave in and made us leave. Ever since then, he was genuinely afraid of flights. And I took full advantage of it every time we went on vacations! During flights, I would tell him stories of planes and aircrafts that always ended with one and the only sentence- 'and the plane crashed!' and he would be shaking in his seat in fear for his dear life! But eventually, much to my dismay, he got over it, though not completely. What a cra-

My head suddenly jerked to left and a sting of pain pulsed at my right temple, making my eyes widen in surprise at the unexpected blow.

"BLOODY HELL, ALEC!" I yelled out, not caring about all the heads that whipped in my direction with inquisitive gaze and disapproving frowns present on their faces. I don't give a hoot about ethics and manners right now.

"WHY did you HIT ME on head?" I fumed at him. _He better come up with something or he'll definitely be missing his fucking hand!_

"You zoned out on me for like 10 minutes. 10 friggin' LONG minutes! What else was I supposed to do?"He shrugged as if it was no big deal and gave me a look that screamed 'DUH!' at me.

"That sure as hell doesn't mean you go on hitting me!" I seethed. "You could've called my name or shook me by shoulders or some crap like that!" _Is he getting dumber with age?_

"Well, where is fun in that?" He smiled that big cheeky smile at me again, completely ignoring my eyes that were trying to burn holes in his already empty head.

"Fuck you. And fuck your fun." I grumbled, punching him on his broad chest. He paused whatever shit was blaring in his iPod and scrunched his nose up in disgust as he turned to face me.

"No thanks. I'm not into incest." He deadpanned, pointing a beefy finger at himself.  
><em>dumb dumb DUMBASS! GOD! WHY-WHY ME? <em>I just wanted to pound my head, or better HIS head on a rock until he shut the hell up. He was just a minute away from becoming Alec-Stew.

"Go to hell." I chuntered and crossed my arms over my chest as I turned my glare towards the seat in front of me.

"We're going to Seattle. Gee, didn't know Seattle is Hell." He sniggered stupidly. _Ugh!_ _Numbskull. _I groaned inwardly and gripped my cardie tightly to prevent the Whack! that would definitely be resounding off the walls of the plane if I let my palm 'caress' his head. Not even bothering to give him some sort of reply for his stupid comment, I started counting gray hair on the head of an overly-tall guy seated in front of me.

1,2,3...I busied myself in counting the gray hair. It sounded rather childish but whatever saves my ears from him.

..22, 23, 24- "So, enjoyed Matrix?" Alec asked nonchalantly as he continued to look expectantly at me.

_Now what's with this Matrix?_ "Matrix? What the heck you're talking about?" _It's been only 5 minutes! Can't he just zip up that mouth of his?_

"Oh you were convulsing and tossing around in your seat; throwing kicks and punches in air. You were making awesome hee-haa-huu noises also; too bad I didn't have a camera to tape it."

Bullshit. He. Is. Exaggerating.

"Alec, you're like just a comment away from getting your ass kicked outta the emergency door. One more word and you'd be freefalling to Seattle." I stated coldly.

"What's upsetting you, Alice? You think I haven't noticed your anxiety and uneasiness." The childishness instantly switched into seriousness as he craned his neck down to look into my eyes, forcing them to meet his concerned gaze. "I'm just trying to get you to smile." He offered a little smile but I turned my face sideways and looked away. _How could I tell you when I have not a blooming idea what's getting me so miffed?_

"I don't know. Just..leave me be for a while." It came out a little harsher than I had intended and he flinched a little.

"Okay." He grumbled out with a scowl and plunged the earphones back in place, leaving my sulky-head to my own thoughts.

XXXXXXXXXXX

About half an hour later our plane landed at Sea-Tac Airport. We waited for our luggage to show up on the conveyor. A little while later it did, and Alec went to fetch it as I walked outside and hauled a cab. We loaded our luggage in its trunk and the cabbie speeded to SU. Alec had been very quiet since my 'little' outburst in the plane. His usual perkiness was absent and the knowledge that his sullen mood was caused by my rudeness was nagging me even more.

_Maybe I should apologize.  
>'No. He is at fault. Had he not nagged you foolishly, you wouldn't have snapped at him'<br>He was helping.  
>'Oh come on. Forget it. It's not <em>like_ he would never get over it or something.'_

Sighing softly, I rested my head on the window and stared outside at the busy city nonchalantly. So many vehicles were honking and zooming by, rushing to their destination; the bright lights coming from the buildings on the both sides of the road. The city seemed to be bustling with life, the scenario a little different from what I am used to from growing up in Biloxi. But adapting to the new city wouldn't be that much of a problem.

The cool night air seeping inside through the little crack in the window glass was making me shiver. So I shifted away from the window towards Alec and chanced a sideways glance at him. He too was staring out the window, his fingers playing with the zipper of his jacket and the ear phones still in place but by the look on his face I instantly knew he wasn't really paying attention to whatever was playing in his iPod.

_I shouldn't have taken my frustration out on him. _Being a twin is sometimes like we were born with an inbuilt empathy link; we just can somehow sense it when the other one is down. With him so quiet, time seems to drag on even more slowly. The hard cushion of the cab felt surprisingly comfortable beneath my aching back...

15 silent minutes in way to SU, Alec still had not uttered a single word. _'Alice! Geez, girl! Just apologize to your brother. Since when have you grown so pigheaded?' _Nodding to myself, I reached over and put my hand on his shoulder. The brunette's eyes immediately met my gaze and I saw a flash of silent apology, confusion and annoyance hidden behind a strained attempt of smile. The weight of guilt took over my stubbornness and my mouth opened on its own accord; but instead of those three words of sincere apology, came out- "Wanna grab a bite?" Damn it! Shame on me!

A stunned confusion was evident on his chiselled features as he tried to process my sudden question. _Great_. "Alice-"  
>I knew what he was going to do- apologize- that he should not. So I had to disrupt him, so decided to go all silly for the sake of it.<p>

"Look Alec.." Holding my palm up at him so that he would not butt in, I popped out my eyes goofily as I pointed at my stomach. "I'm like starving and though I know the dorm cafe is about twenty minutes or so away, I doubt I'd get a chance to get something yummy inside my poor little hungry-growling belly until I'm done unpacking my stuff because you know how sincere I'm when it comes to organizing and-"

"'Kay!" He covered my blabbering mouth with his hand. "I get the picture." He shook his head as he removed his hand though his face betrayed no signs of humour. But still, I got him to speak, _so yay!_

The cabbie stopped in front of a small but cozy looking cafe's building that had 'Bandit's' written on the signboard in very artistic cursive fonts. '_Interesting name.'_ I bought a pizza and Alec settled for a coke. '_Not hungry...hmm.'  
><em>Finishing the pizza in mere minutes, I noticed the lamest of tense silence surrounding us. Every time I tried to make a conversation, the damn pizza seemed to stick like gloop in my throat and my vocal chords act like slackers.

"What do you think Pops gifted us?"

"Huh?" _Did he say something?  
><em>He rolled his honey brown eyes at me with an air of annoyance, apparent by his body language. _Expecting some kind of answer, I see._  
><em>Wait!<br>Leci spoke. To me!  
>Without me trying.<br>Ha! Progress progress!_

"I know Neo is hot and all but keep him in your dreams only. I said if you have any guess on what gift Dad gave us?"  
><em>Neo? I don't know this Neo dude<em>. I swear Alec is sometimes so beyond my understanding; one moment he is on talk-strike and the next moment throwing weird advises at me. _Ignore._

"Dunno." Letting my shoulders rise and fall in a shrug, I gestured at his backpack placed by our table; "That's in there. Let's see."  
>As Alec grabbed the bag and fumbled for the rectangular gift-boxes inside that mess of a bag, I took the opportunity and made up my mind on apologizing to him while he was still distracted searching. Taking in a deep breath, I exhaled out a loud-clear but hurried "I'm sorry". His hands stopped their search as he looked up at me with raised eyebrows, his lips pursed in an attempt to hide the coy smile behind a serious exterior.<p>

"What did you say?" His voice was laced with innocence as he scrunched his face in a way that showed genuine confusion. If I was someone else, he could have fooled me easily with that look on his face, but I know that slight curve at the corner of his upper lip.  
><em>He heard me clearly. Stinker!<em>

"Sorry." Looking down at the empty plate, I murmured out another hushed apology. He just kept on twirling and playing with his coke can, seeming not interested in forming any kind or reply. _1..2..3..4..5- _Counting up to 5, I drew in a sharp breath and "Look, Alec. I'm really very sorry about my rudeness. I shouldn't have misbehaved. Can you just forgive me and get back to your normal self?" To say I was surprised when he threw his head back and busted into laughter, would be putting it mildly. His reaction was shocking! "Wha..t?" I just sat there, staring dumbly at him with my jaw open as his frame shook with waves of chortles. "Oh man!" He held his now-red face as his laughter eventually ceased down and exhaled very loudly through his mouth.

"You..you were pretending; weren't mad at me?"

"How was that, baby sis?"

"You..!" The chair screeched loudly against the tiled floor as I stood up abruptly and grabbed my purse. I bet my face was red with a mix of anger and embarrassment as I marched towards the exit door.

"Sis! Wait!.."

A few minutes later, we were back on the way to SU in that same cab that had a crack in the left window. This time, Alec got to sit that side as a punishment for his little stunt back in the cafe. It turned out that Dad came up with the idea of digicams for us; must have wanted us to capture sweet moments at the college. _How thoughtful._

If the greenery was any measure to say, the campus was located on the outskirts of the main city. The night cool air held some strange kind of scent that could only be associated with plants and described as earthy. I gladly welcomed the earthy scent by taking in deep breaths in my lungs. I rolled down the window and stuck my head out; my eyes closed to feel its caress. A sudden gust of chilled wind on my face made my eyes flip open and my vision zeroed on the distant treeline as I noticed something.

_I think I saw a.._

"Jeez, Alice! Close the window, you crazy-head."

I tightly grasped Alec's hand that reached over to close the window. "Did you see that?" I motioned at the trees outside. He craned his neck up to give a fleeting glance over my shoulder at the trees and then rolled his eyes at me.

"Hallucinate all you want to, but Neo ain't there, Lee." My eyebrows knitted together in confusion as he patted my head in mock sympathy. "Neo, who? Alec I swear I don't know this Neo guy!" He just gave a throaty chuckle and started humming some tune, completely ignoring my question.

"Whatever."

...

"Hey, let me carry this for you." My gentleman of a brother offered to carry some of my luggage to my dorm room. He decided to first help me finding my room and set my luggage in there, then worry about his own dorm. His college was about half a mile away from my dorm, that is what the lady at the office said. But still, he is here helping me with the bags and all. We both were panting by the time we reached my room's door. Sliding the key inside the key-hole, I unlocked the door and pushed it open. What I saw in there was not surprising at all. The right side of the room was already taken, the bed neatly made, and a bag placed on top of it.

"Looks like my room-mate has arrived." A female voice jostled me out of my thoughts. We both turned to look at the source of that voice and I came face to face with the owner of a pair of electric blue eyes.

"Holllly Craaap!"

**A/N- remember, English ain't my first language, so excuse all grammatical mistakes.  
>If any of you haven't read 'The Ghosts' Adversary', a bellice fic, go read it. It's an interesting story.<strong>

**Take Care. :)  
>-AJo<strong>


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